Ohio State Route 578

State Route 578 (SR 578, OH 578) is a short north–south state highway in northwestern Ohio, a U.S. state. In fact, State Route 578 ranks among the shortest state routes in the state, coming in at a length of just 0.19 miles (0.31 km). Its southern terminus is at State Route 65 in Grand Rapids, and its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 24, just across the Maumee River and the Wood-Lucas County Line from Grand Rapids.

Route description

Although a route of less than 0.25 miles (0.40 km) in length, State Route 578 does pass through two counties: Wood and Lucas. The highway is not included within the National Highway System.^[2]

No sooner than starting from the intersection of State Route 65 and Bridge Street in Grand Rapids, State Route 578 crosses the Maumee River via a two-lane, four-span steel bridge. North of the bridge, State Route 578 meets a pair of driveways (one on either side of the roadway), crosses over a very narrow waterway parallel to the Maumee River, and promptly arrives at its endpoint at U.S. Route 24.^[3]

History

State Route 578 made its debut in 1937 as a route that was much longer than the short connector that is serves as today. Starting from the Henry County intersection of what is now State Route 108 (then known as State Route 33) and County Road L approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Napoleon, State Route 578 followed what is now County Road L east, passing an intersection with State Route 109 and straddling the northern village limits of Malinta. Continuing east, State Route 578 continued eastward along County Road L, crossing State Route 65 and proceeded to Township Road 1C, which the state route then followed northeasterly to the County Road M intersection, and turned east. Heading into Wood County, State Route 578 followed Sand Ridge Road to Wapakoneta Road (County Road 189), then turned north, and followed Wapakoneta Road past an intersection with U.S. Route 6 and into Grand Rapids. There, State Route 578 ended at what was is now just State Route 65, but was then a duplex between State Route 65 and U.S. Route 24. U.S. Route 24 then crossed over the Maumee River where State Route 578 does today to pick up the routing that it currently occupies today on the north side of the river.^[4][5][6]

In 1942, U.S. Route 24 was re-routed onto the north side of the Maumee River heading northeast from Napoleon. State Route 578 was then extended into Lucas County to meet U.S. Route 24 on the north side of the Maumee River across from Grand Rapids, via the bridge that formerly carried U.S. Route 24 across the river there. One year later, however, State Route 578 was shortened greatly, when jurisdiction of the route between State Route 108 south of Napoleon and State Route 65 in Grand Rapids was yielded to Henry and Wood Counties. Since then, State Route 578 has simply been the short route across the Maumee River connecting State Route 65 with U.S. Route 24.^[7][8][9]

Major intersections

References

External links

• State Route 578 Endpoint Photos